Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

The game is played on a table top or other flat surface with added terrain, obstacles, and other objects; the standard play area is 6' x 4'. The essential tools for gameplay, aside from the models, are: the main rulebook; codexes, supplements, and dataslates which detail model stats and specific rules for the individual factions, as well as gameplay scenarios; a tape measure, as everything is measured in inches; plastic templates for blast and flame weapons; objective markers which are used in some game variants; and lots of six-sided dice, including a special "scatter die" used for specific weapons and troop movements. You can pick these up separately, but GW provides a starter kit which contains the templates, a scatter die and a few D6s, enough miniatures to field two small armies, a rules-only version of the rulebook, and special rules pertaining to the armies in the kit and game scenarios. The current starter kit is Dark Vengeance.

The models are divided into eight distinct categories: Lords of Warnote exceptionally powerful, even legendary figures, HQsnote powerful leaders, Elitesnote strong units and war machines, Troopsnote basic infantry, Fast Attacknote speedy units and light vehicles, Heavy Supportnote heavily armed vehicles and units, Fortificationsnote specific types of terrain that work in an army's favor, and Othernote models that don't neatly fit into the other categories, such as Imperial Knights. The 7th edition rules allow players to build their armies either as Unbound (using any structure they want) or as Battle-Forged (an organized structure that includes a Primary Detachment and optional Allied Detachment, each with specific numbers of certain model categories). Battle-Forged armies use a Force Organization Chart to determine how many units/vehicles in each category can be fielded. The standard FOC has one HQ and two Troops choices at minimum, while some codexes feature their own FOCs which give differing options. Battle-Forged armies also get bonuses that Unbound armies do not.

For each army, the models available in each category have a base point value relative to their worth in gameplay, which covers the # of models and their default weapons and armor. The rules give the player specific options to change the weapons, armor, and other bonuses depending on the category and model or unit in question, and to add models to certain units, with most changes increasing that model or unit's overall point cost. Players assemble their armies to meet an agreed-upon number of points per army prior to play, with the upper limits usually determined by the type of game being played. Normal games are typically in the 1000-2000 point range, but a beginner could easily play a 500 point game, and the Kill Team variant is designed for fast games using 200-250 point armies. On the other hand, Apocalypse games feature huge numbers of units per army and models that are typically overpowered for the normal game, such as faction-relevant Humongous Mecha, and can have point values in the tens to hundreds of thousands or more.

Before the game begins, dice are rolled to determine the Mission for the gamenote killing everyone, capturing objectives, etc., how the battlefield will be divided between the armiesnote whether sides or corners of the table will be used for deployment, how many terrain pieces are to be used, etc., various challenges and model abilitiesnote Warlord Traits and Psychic Powers, for example that influence gameplay, and who gets to deploy their army first. There are twelve Missions in the core rulebook, six "Eternal War" Missions that are carryovers from previous editions and six "Maelstrom of War" missions introduced in 7th edition. These have a general theme like the Eternal War missions but also use Tactical Objectives which give specific tasks that the player can attempt to accomplish. The first player to deploy gets to start the first turn, with the second player having a chance to roll to go first, or "steal the initiative".

Games have a maximum of 7 turns; whether or not turns 6 or 7 happen is determined by die rolls starting at the end of turn 5. Each game turn has two player turns, each having a movement phase (advancing or retreating models as needed), a psychic phase (where such models attempt to generate and use psychic powers) a shooting phase (where all such weapons can fire on targets in range), and an assault phase (melee combat). In the movement phase, specific rules govern how far different models/units can move and how movement affects their ability to use weapons in the subsequent phases. The moving player can also elect to "run" a model or unit in the shooting phase, passing up the chance to shoot to move it further. Models or units being held in reserve can also be potentially brought in during the movement phase starting on turn 2. In the psychic phase, the attacking player rolls 1D6 to set the Warp Charge pool; both players then have the Warp Charge pool plus the sum of their models' psychic "mastery levels" worth of Warp Charges in total. The attacking player then spends one Warp Charge per die rolled to cast powers, with failed rolls, "Perils of the Warp", and/or the defending player using his Warp Charges to try to negate successful rolls factored in. During the shooting phase, dice are rolled for each type of weapon being fired to determine whether the attack hits and then whether it actually causes wounds or damage. In the assault phase, die rolls determine whether or not a unit can move into melee combat with a target. Combat then follows a structured order of attacks, with die rolls for hits and wounds/damage in the same manner as in the shooting phase. In both of these phases, if possible, the defending player can roll for various types of saves to attempt to negate damage or wounds, and can counterattack in the assault phase. Characteristic tests, special abilities and features unique to each faction, weapon-specific rules, terrain effects, and other such actions also influence the progress of each phase. A game turn is complete at the end of the second player's assault phase; the process then starts over again with the next turn.

Players acquire victory points as they eliminate sections of the opponents' army from the game, when Mission-specific objectives are achieved, and when Tactical Objectives are achieved during a turn. All Missions are won by majority of victory points; draws are possible. It's also possible to win by "tabling" the opponentnote completely eliminating his models that are present on the tabletop, regardless of what he may have in reserve or by eliminating enough of his army to make it impossible for him to complete the Mission.

The Hobby

One of the major aspects of 40K, aside from the gameplay, is the actual work that goes into the miniatures. Just like any other model kit, 40K minis come unassembled and unpainted, and it's up to the player to put in the legwork to literally build their army. The model kits come in a variety of ways, such as single blister packs or boxes that contain one model (such as an HQ, tank, or large creature), a boxed unit (such as a Space Marine Tactical Squad or Necron Warriors) or as larger box sets that contain many models and allow the player to obtain a large chunk of his army at once. Models are generally glued together piecemeal using plastic or super glue (for plastic and resin minis, respectively), but the starter kits' minis are designed to be snapped together with limited gluing necessary, speeding up the building process. The kits feature a large number of ways that models can be customized, and kit-bashing models is a good way to spruce them up and to make use of spare bitz lying around.

Possibly even more important than assembling the models is painting them. It's generally seen as very bad form to field an unpainted army, especially for factions like the Space Marines that have many different chapters and where a lot of the models look exactly alike, making painting them the accepted way to determine which particular chapter you're playing. Painting models to a "tabletop" quality levelnote painted well enough so that the models don't look sloppy at an at-the-table perspective and particular factions are easily distinguished is considered the norm, and tournaments will often require a certain level of completion of painting, but players can put as much or as little effort into it as they wish, although they're often encouraged to go beyond tabletop quality and bad paint jobs may be a target for criticism. GW produces painting guides and a limited number of free online tutorials, but other tutorials are readily available through YouTube and dedicated painting sites. GW uses Citadel products for its minis, paints, glues, and tools, and all of its painting methods and tutorials are built around using them, but equivalents from other companies are readily available, and tutorials will vary wildly between paints, glues, and other materials. There are many different ways to go about painting models, and settling on one is up to the player's tastes and budget and the availability of supplies...the general rule is "find what works for you and run with it."

Thus, 40K is just as much a hobby as it is a game. It's perfectly fine to ignore the game aspect altogether and devote yourself to building and painting the miniatures, whether it's for simple recreation, for display and competition, or even as a business. There are many artists and sites who do commission work for others, doing anything from simply painting minis to the entire process of assembly and painting, and from quality levels ranging from simple gameplay-quality to work similar to what you see on show cars. GW recognizes the best of the best through an annual competition called the Golden Daemon Awards, where painters show off models that have been painted and based to standards far beyond tabletop-ready, to the point that they have become works of art.

Apart from the game itself and its rulebooks, faction-specific, setting-specific, and campaign sourcebooks, 40K has spawned a range of spinoff games and publications. Dozens of novels and short story anthologies are published by the Black Library, a subsidiary of Games Workshop, who also published the now out-of-print comic book Warhammer Monthly and short story magazine Inferno. Boom! Studios now publish comics set in the 40K universe, in the form of various mini-series, rather than an ongoing title. There is even a full-length fan film, Damnatus, which was approved, made, banned over conflicts between British and German IP laws, then leaked online. Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium is currently in development. An official CGI movie, Ultramarines, was released in 2010, following up on a number of live-action shorts shown at various Games Day events in the 90s.

In the meantime, you can track down an old Games Workshop VHS release film called Inquisitor, or even watch Event Horizon (which has long been accepted as an unofficial prequel, since the creators seem to have accidentally matched the franchise's premise and style with remarkable exactitude, though not the time period). There is also another fan film being produced called The Lord Inquisitor, which will be fully CGI. Unlike the incident with Damnatus, Games Workshop is perfectly fine with the existence of the movie and will not be taking legal action against its production.

As you may have guessed from the incredible size and attention to detail on this page, 40K has a huge, diverse, and fanatical following, despite the niche status of the hobby. The franchise has a lot of appeal even to people who don't play the wargame itself (or used to play it and only keep in touch with the lore), and who only follow the spinoffs (many of which are perfectly good in their own right). You don't have to spend all your money to experience the inimitable insanity that is Warhammer 40,000.

You can start withthese pages or better yet, watch this. Additionally, the following links can provide you with a lot of helpful information about many different aspects of the game:

Other links

40K Lexicanum and 40K Wiki — Two large and comprehensive wikis. Formatting and citation methods are very different between them, and the Lexicanum tends to be more concise.

1d4chan — invoked Another wiki, a spinoff of 4chan's /tg/ board; it covers many games, but Warhammer 40,000 is highly represented. It features a lot of info about the game's fanon and fan works as well as the game itself. It's very informal in tone, steeped in 4chan's lingo and culture, and generally NSFW, so be prepared.

Inquisitor: A 54mm scale RPG. Extremely detailed both in minature, rules and backstory and the narratives involved in the gameplay. The backstory discusses a factional civil war at the highest levels of the Imperial Inquisition, the most powerful organisation of humanity.

Gorkamorka: A skirmish-level game similar to Necromunda but featuring Ork gangs fighting for fortune and power, to dominate the other tribes and lead the Waaagh! offworld. Considered a less serious game than the others, due to the Orks' role as what passes for comic relief in the setting.

Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Black Crusade: The fourth in the series, this switches the focus from Imperial heroes onto dark villians working for the ruinous powers of Chaos.

Deathwatch: The third in the modern RPG series that started with Dark Heresy, this gamebook revolves around the Space Marines of the Ordo Xenos Deathwatch, a special operations group tasked with defeating alien horrors.

Rogue Trader: The first game by this name was the original name for 1st Edition Warhammer 40K. The second is the 2009 follow up to Dark Heresy, an RPG that is about exploration, adventure in what has been called a grimdark version of Star Trek.

Only War: The fifth in the series; it turns the focus onto the Imperial Guard and more traditional warfare.

Video Games

Chaos Gate: A turn based strategy game from 1998, notable as it was built before the introduction of the 3rd Edition of the tabletop game which radically changed so many elements of the lore.

Dawn of War: A Real-Time Strategy series created by Relic Entertainment. The storyline of the first game is a campaign by the Blood Ravens chapter to rescue the planet Tartarus from an Ork invasion. The plot of the sequel revolves around the Blood Ravens' efforts to regain control over the Aurelia Sub-Sector.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: A third person shooter created by Relic Entertainment involving Ultramarines Captain Titus fighting against Orks on the Imperial World Graia as both sides fight to recover an Imperial Titan.

Space Hulk: Space Marine Terminators attempt to cleanse aforementioned Space Hulks of Genestealer infestation. Has video game and tabletop game variants, and is notable for being particularly beloved by gamers of a certain age in its native UK, for whom the game was a gateway entry into wider tabletop and 40K play.

Conquest: an LCG based on the franchise. It pits different armies against each other for the control of a planetary system.

Assassinorum: Execution Force: A 2015 limited-release board game in which a quartet of Imperial Assassins attempt to stop a Chaos Sorcerer from opening a Warp rift in the heart of the Segmentum Solar.

Book series

These pages are for tropes related to the literary fiction (novels, short stories etc.) and only this. Please resist the urge to shoehorn tropes about the Chapters the novels are following onto these pages. Tropes which are exemplified by the Chapter in Codices, rulebook fluff and the like go on the relevant Characters pages. Generally speaking, the subject of the story is the name of the entry, and each specific story, novel or audio drama should be entered into that subject's trope entry.

Black Legion: Previously known as the Luna Wolves and later the Sons of Horus, they feature prominently in the backstory, and are an essential element in the Horus Heresy series. They have an upcoming series written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden in the works.

Blood Angels: Covers the early history of the chapter, later moving to cover their inherent genetic flaws (the Red Thirst and Black Fury) and the effect they have on the chapter.

Brothers of the Snake: The adventures of the Iron Snakes Space Marine chapter, focusing on one Marine named Priad.

Ciaphas Cain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!! follows the titular Commissar of the Imperial Guard through various conflicts. It is quite unique as instead of the usual realistic Grimdark Horror, these stories are written in a tongue-in-cheek dark comedic style.

Dark Angels: Half the number of this Space Marine chapter rebelled during the Horus Heresy. These books follow the general idea of hunting their fallen brothers and keeping the secret of their failure from the rest of the Imperium.

Eisenhorn: A trilogy of books, Xenos, Malleus & Hereticus, that follow Inquisitor Eisenhorn's adventures and attempts to avoid being named a rogue heretic.

Gaunt's Ghosts: The Tanith First & Only are an Imperial Guard regiment who had to evacuate their home planet Tanith after an invasion by the forces of Chaos. They were the only people to get off the planet alive, hence the name. With over a dozen novels in the series, and spin-offs, it has spawned a mini-continuity called the "Sabbat Worlds Crusade" inside the overall lore of the game.

Grey Knights: Follows the exploits of Justicar Alaric and his squad battling various daemonic and chaotic enemies of the Imperium. The Grey Knights are an ultra-secret, ultra-pure, ultra-elite chapter of Space Marines dedicated to fighting the most dangerous threats that the Imperium will face.

Horus Heresy: This extremely popular (showing up regularly on the New York Times best seller list) series of 30+ novels, audio dramas, and related books that cements the canon story of the Horus Heresy, the foundation on which the Warhammer 40000 universe is built around, set around 30,000 AD.

Imperial Fists: The novel Sons Of Dorn is about the chapter, who can be described as the good equivalent of the Iron Warriors.

Imperial Guard: There are numerous novels revolving around the Imperial Guard, an army comprised of normal humans.

The Last Chancers: A trilogy of novels concerning the 13th Penal Legion of the Imperial Guard, led by Colonel Schaeffer. The regiment is comprised of Imperial criminals that Schaeffer drags through hellish battlefields to build up an elite human suicide squad.

The Path of the Eldar: A set of two trilogies. The first is a "Rashomon"-Style story revolving around three Eldar of craftworld Alaitoc. The second follows the path of three Dark Eldar warriors.

Priests Of Mars: A trilogy of novels centering on an Explorator Fleet of the Adeptus Mechanicus and its assorted hangers-on as it searches for the lost Archmagos Telok and the impossible technology he claims to have found.

Published By The Black Library:* "Please note that most of these originally ran as serials in either the Inferno! or Warhammer Monthly magazines and are either Short story anthology's or collected mini series"

Bloodquest: Chronicles The Blood Angel captain Leonatos as he and his most loyal followers go on a bloodquest to retrieve the lost sword of Belarius.

Deff Skwadron: Follows the adventures of an Ork fighta-bomma squadron fighting a war against another ork Waaagh!

Kal Jerico: Follows the eponymous bounty hunter in his various adventures in Necromunda.

Titan: Follows the actions of the Imperius Dictatio warlord titan and its crew.

The Redeemer: Follows a Redemptionist priest and his followers in their never ending quest to purge the under-hive of Necromunda.

Rites of War: Turn-based computer strategy game starring the Eldar, using the Panzer General engine.

Armageddon: A turn-based computer strategy game, using the Panzer Corps engine, from Slitherine Games, about the Second War for Armageddon involving various Space Marine chapters, Imperial Guard & Orks.

Space Crusade: A board game somewhat similar to Space Hulk in which up to three players control a squad of Space Marines each, attempting to fight their way through a space hulk filled with a mix of Orks, Genestealers and Chaos troops controlled by another player. Although apparently set in the Warhammer 40K universe, including use of Space Marine chapter names, it was developed jointly with Milton Bradley and, as with other similar joint games such as HeroQuest, never makes any mention of the actual setting.

TV Tropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy